Emerald City Comic Con is this weekend in Seattle, and I will be in attendance alongside upwards of 90k other people. It should be a good time. (If you see me, say hello. I’m the big guy in all black—no not that one, or that one, or that one, no… I’m the other one.)

It is also Saint Patrick’s Day on Sunday which means there will be two other events bringing even more people downtown. That can make the city core a little chaotic at times. Since I live and work in Seattle, I figured I’d offer up some advice for those coming in from out of town. (This was born from a twitter thread, but having this all in one place will be handy.)

The con begins tomorrow and runs through Sunday at the Washington State Convention Center and surrounds just a few blocks up Pike St. from Westlake Park. Thursday and Friday should be fine (though the Friday night commute might be a little hairy.) Saturday and Sunday will be busy. Along with the typical beer-drinking St. Patrick’s Day revelers two themed-events are happening over the weekend.

Saturday:

Sunday:

The 35th Annual Saint Patrick’s Day Dash is on Sunday and runs from 6:30-12:00. It starts at Seattle Central runs down 4th Ave, turns around and spring and comes back. Here’s the route.

That combo is going to draw a lot of people in green downtown. If you’re driving in, expect a bit more traffic than usual, and know that parking will be harder to find. Your best bet is a garage which can be expensive, but they’re convenient as long as they’re not full. Two main garages service the WSCC, and you can find pricing here. You can expect similar prices at other garages nearby. Those will fill up fast.

There is, of course, another option…

Transit:

Your best bet in my opinion, if you’re driving into the city from out of town, is to take the Sound Transit Link Light Rail—parking will be cheaper near stations outside of downtown, and it’s a single line. so it’s impossible to get lost. Convenient and cheap!

There is a stop directly under Westlake Park called Westlake Station and an exit for 5th and Pine (follow the signs) it’ll lead you past Nordstroms and deposit you on the other side of both the revelers and race. From there its only a few blocks to the convention center.

Hopefully, a few people will find this advice helpful. Whatever you do, I always recommend giving yourself more time when events overlap. Personally, I plan on taking the light rail every day—it should make things nice and smooth.

Have a question? Leave a comment below or shoot me an email, I’ll do my best to answer any questions.

I’m looking forward to hanging out this weekend. Hopefully, I’ll see you at ECCC.

In less than a month I’ll be attending Emerald City Comic Con for my second year in a row! (Read my Debrief for 2018 here.) Just like last year ECCC ’19 will be more of a work-focused convention. I won’t be running a table or appearing in any panels—the plan is to spend most of my time networking and catching up with some friends and fellow writers.

That doesn’t mean I’ll be a curmudgeon hermiting away in some dark corner. I’ll be sitting in on panels, wandering the show floor, and generally enjoying myself. If you see me—I look like this—please say “hi!” I love to meet up with readers, and it’d be great to chat with you. Don’t be afraid to stop me. As I said last year, I’m as much a fan as I am a writer and I love talking with readers and fellow fans.

I really enjoyed myself last time, and I’m looking forward to diving into the masses once again. If you’re in town and are interested in attending ECCC runs March 14th–17th at the Washington State Convention Center here in Seattle. You can find out waaaay more info over on the official site. As of this post, there are still tickets available for Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. But they’ll go fast, so don’t wait.

At the beginning of March (a few weekends ago, now) I joined ninety-five thousand others in attending Emerald City Comic Con in my hometown of Seattle, Washington. This year the convention was extended to four days—I skipped Thursday but visited Friday, Saturday, and most of Sunday. As is the tradition around here, it’s time for a convention debriefing.

🌤 Friday

Friday started oddly but finished great. I learned a valuable lesson about con-attendee me—I need to have things to do. The one panel I wanted to attend was full, so I spent a good portion of the day poking around the show floor and getting the lay of the land. I swung by the tables of a few author friends, Lee Frenchhad a table, as did Matt Youngmark (Go buy their books!) and I managed to get a few pictures of some great cosplayers. (Including Android Cosplay’s classic take on Nightcrawler in the image on the left.)

Around 2 PM, I took a break and went home to get some writing done. Later, I returned met up with Lars Brown. Lars is a talented comic creator. (His Penultimate Questseries was one of my favorite graphic novels from 2016. You should buy them.) Together, we stuck around the con for a bit, then went to dinner. All in all, it was a relaxing—if not somewhat quiet—first day.

☀ Saturday

On Saturday I was joined by my friend and fellow author Steve Toutonghi (his new book Side Life is coming out in April, you should preorder it.) Together we hit up a bunch of panels. My favorite was probably Books as Flint: Using Graphic Novels to Spark Political Activism. It was a discussion on the power of stories and how graphic novels (this was a comic convention after all) can often bridge the gap and open conversations on topics such as politics, race, religion, misogyny, and bigotry. The panelists were passionate and knowledgeable, and everyone had great thoughts about inclusion and activism in the comic space. Lessons that could easily be applied to novels as well.

Steve and I also attended Family-friendly Fantasy: Keeping It PG in the Age of Grimdark & Game of Thrones and another on called 10 Points to Slytherin: Why Good Fans Love Evil Characters. Both were excellent and much better than I expected and both sparked some good conversation.

Oh! While waiting for one panel, we randomly slipped into a conversation with Shannon Purser(Barb from Stranger Things, y’all)—it was fun. Lots of kids with questions and Purser was kind, articulate, open, and honest. I’m generally not one for celebrity panels like that, but I found myself enjoying it.

🌧 Sunday

Writing the Future Panel – [Left to Right] Sylvain Neuvel, Michael Miller, AdriAnne Strickland, Annalee Newitz, Chuck Wendig, Jason HoughI had only two panels Sunday, and once again Steve Toutonghi joined me. Our first panel was What Do I Read Now (and Where Do I Start)? hosted by a group of local librarians, and the premise was they’d recommended books based on other properties people liked. It was fun. I did take issue when one of the panelists mentioned recommending only finished series. I bring this up because I feel it’s an important topic. The best way you can support a series as a fan is to read it as its published. Waiting until it’s finished can often kill a series. Publishers make decisions based on sales. So even if you want to wait until you have them all, buy the books (or check them out from your library) as they come out. It’ll make a big difference.

Our final panel of the weekend was Writing the Future (pictured above), and it was interesting. The room filled up fast, there was loads of audience participation. Afterward, a friend asked me if I had any new takeaways. My honest answer was no—I didn’t hear anything new or revelatory. If anything it was nice to see veteran writers reaffirm my choices.

Leaving ECCC

So, that was my ECCC! There was so much I missed, and I felt like I had my schedule pretty well planned. Overall ECCC is excellently run and well managed—I appreciated all the hard work keeping the crowds organized. It’s not simple with that many people, and the staff and volunteers excelled at keeping everything under control. It’ll be interesting to see how it changes as the Seattle Convention Center expands.

I was thrilled I spent the time I did—next year I’m hoping to go longer and actually sit on a few panels and making do some gaming. (Gaming was sorely missing from my ECCC 2018 experience. Would have liked to play Mansions of Madness or jumped into a Call of Cthulhu session.) I also want to extend a big thank you to my friends Steve and Lars for hanging out with me, having friends willing to pal around made a big difference.

Thanks for a great convention Emerald City—it was a lot of fun.

Have a convention you’d like me to attend? Let me know by leaving a comment or sending me an email. Remember, You can keep track of where I’ll be and read previous convention debriefing over on my Upcoming Appearances page.

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Today is the start of Emerald City Comic Con, Seattle’s premiere comic convention. It’ll run through Sunday, and it’ll be busy. Last year there were 90k people in attendance, and I’m sure this year will be much the same. (When I last checked most tickets are sold out.)

I will be present—but I won’t be showing up until tomorrow morning. I plan on being around Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I’m not paneling or running a table so there’s no specific place you’ll see me, but I’ll be exploring everything. I expect to be hitting up a lot of the fiction panels—there’s quite a few that have piqued my interest. So keep an eye out, and don’t hesitate to say hello. We can high-five and stuff.

In a few weeks, I’m going to be attending Emerald City Comicon 2018here in Seattle. But, this won’t be my typical “Come See Me At [Con Name Here] Post” only because this will be a bit different frommy other appearances. While I will be attending ECCC as a pro, as of right now, I won’t be on any panels, and I’m not running a table. Instead, I’ll be paling around with my friend and fellow author Steve Toutonghi,and taking my time to enjoy ECCC. The plan is to reconnect with some friends, sit in on a few panels, maybe hit up the show floor, and do some networking.

If you’re attending, let me know! I’d happily meet up with any readers, and I’ve love to chat with you. If you see me out and about, please stop me and say hello! I’m as much a fan as I am a writer and I love talking with readers and fellow fans. I’m really looking forward to the convention, it’s been years (eight?) since I’ve attended ECCC and I can’t wait to lose myself in the craziness for a few days.

ECCC runs March 1st–4th at the Washington State Convention Center here in Seattle. You can find out way more info over on the official site. As of this post, there are still tickets available for Thursday and Friday. But they’ll go fast, so don’t wait.

Sadly I will be absent from #ECCC this year. However that doesn’t mean a few copies of The Stars Were Right won’t be attending! My friend Andrew Wilson has graciously given up a bit of table space at his booth and it is there you’ll find signed copies of The Stars Were Right for a con only price of $10!

Andrew is an amazing illustrator and artist and he has a ton of awesome books and prints for sale of his own. Make sure you check it all out at BOOTH 702. He’s throwing in free postcards with any purchase and you’ll also find three flavors of free bookmarks available just because I love you. Who doesn’t love free swag?

Look for the big Andrew Wilson ConGirl banner (pictured in the header) and make stop by and say hello. Have a great #ECCC! Wish I could be there with ya’ll!

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